I'd like to reskin a Silverlight app to be more visually compelling. Unfortunately, I went to school for computer science, not design, and I have trouble deciding if two colors even match. How do I get started? Let me add that time and money are both factors so pursuing a design degree isn't an option (though it might be ideal).
EDIT: I also need to learn how to implement good design, so any guidance on the toolsets (Blend or Illustrator?) would be helpful too.
Design is one of those things that is very difficult to teach. Only a small percentage of it can be taught. The rest must be learned through experience and practice. If you have an inclination toward art / expression, your learning curve will be much shorter. Here are some things to get you started:
Color Theory:
http://www.tigercolor.com/color-lab/color-theory/color-theory-intro.htm
http://www.colormatters.com/colortheory.html
Design Basics:
http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/graphicdesign/a/designbasics.htm
http://www.online.tusc.k12.al.us/tutorials/grdesign/grdesign.htm
Software:
http://www.adobe.com/products/illustrator/
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/compare/
Software Tutorials:
http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/video_workshop/
Visit the Cooper site. The books listed there are well worth a read. "About Face" in particular belongs in the library of anyone required to do UI work.
If you're really only interested in making your app look nicer, going with one of the built-in themes from the latest Silverlight Toolkit is probably a smart choice.
Check out the links below.
Toolkit -Themes
Jesse Liberty Blog - Themes
EDIT: I'm not much of a designer myself, but I know if I wanted some insight on the subject, I would start by going to the Silverlight Showcase page and seeing some of the things that can be done, and drawing inspiration from these apps.
Silverlight Showcase
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